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kanye west

Rihanna turned 30 on Tuesday and to celebrate the superstar’s birthday, I threw it back on the radio show to one of the most embarrassing moments of my career. It was May 2008; my program was only airing in Scranton, Pennsylvania at the time. Good ‘ole Cousin Tony was in town visiting and we had a lot planned – a trip to New York on Saturday to see the Yankees and then a doubleheader on Sunday: PNC Field for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees game against the Pawtucket Red Sox and then up the road to The Pavilion At Montage Mountain for Kanye West’s “Glow In The Dark Tour” featuring N.E.R.D., Lupe Fiasco and Rihanna.

I was also scheduled to interview the “Pon De Replay” singer before she took the stage. Our record label rep, Nicki, brought me and my colleague Adam backstage for our chat. I had a five minute window.

The interview started on a great note; Rihanna was in a fantastic mood. But the worst thing possible happened after one question: the MiniDisc I was using died. I brought backup batteries and extra discs. After I replaced each I attempted to restart the interview. And by the fourth restart, sitting across from *Rihanna,* I made the call that we would just film and use the audio from Adam’s digital camera, which he thankfully brought.
There are a few things I’ll always remember about that experience: how kind Rihanna was, how patient Nicki was, using MiniDisc for the final time in my career and taking up so much time in the process that Rihanna couldn’t do another interview scheduled after mine. She went right from our photo-op to the stage, and slayed it.

The last noteworthy moment came as I walked out of Rihanna’s dressing room. We saw and snapped a photo with her boyfriend, who happened to be there… Chris Brown.

On Friday I checked in with “The Cocktail Professor” LaTanya White to grab three recipes for Cinco de Mayo cocktails that are not margaritas or a beer and are perfect for the summer season. You can hear our chat and check out the recipes below.
From LaTanya:

– The Mexican Commissioner: a take on a 71 Proof Krewe favorite, mix your favorite brand of Mezcal with triple sec and fill pineapple for a smoky toast to la revolucion!

– Felpa Mayo: a sexy summer treat that will take you right to Midtown since it’s a Cinco de Mayo twist on another favorite, Midtown Plush! Take the lovely St Germaine Elderflower Liqueur, add a splash of high quality tequila, top with club soda and squeeze fresh lime…it’s so plush!

– Lastly, Kanye gave the original recipe when he said “You mix the Goose with Malibu and we call it Malibu-yah!”…well for Cinco de Mayo, we take that Goose and use tequila, keep the Malibu and add a healthy splash of pineapple for The Mexicana!

“I stepped on stage, at Live Aid. I’m one-of-the-reasons why Yeezys can get made.”

It is the rhyme that Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, a member of the legendary Run-D.M.C., drops when he speaks at schools and kids question his modern-day relevance. And while the average grade school student might not know any better, any older music fan certainly does, right down to the relationship that both DMC and Kanye West have with Adidas.

“When Steven Tyler took the mic stand in the ‘Walk This Way’ video that we made with Aerosmith,” McDaniels began to recall. “When he knocked the wall down, people tell me, ‘Yo D, it didn’t just happen in the video; that happened in the world.’”

That single moment can somewhat encapsulate the global impact of Run-D.M.C., both musically and culturally. But the group’s influence also reached far in to the fashion world. In 1986 the Queens-natives dropped “My Adidas.” It spurred the first time a major apparel company offered a sponsorship deal to a non-sports entity. Now three decades later, Run-D.M.C. has partnered with retailer Fanatics to release a line of officially licensed apparel that personalizes the iconic Run-D.M.C. logo for different teams based on the organization’s home city and colors.
“Our influence is respected,” McDaniels responded when I asked what it meant to him that so many years later, the logo and culture of Run-D.M.C. is still relevant and sought after. “But we had no idea that our presence was respected…to still be allowed to participate is very humbling.”

However as DMC accurately pointed out, the idea of the group’s logo changing for a city or cause is nothing new.

“But what (the Fanatics partnership) does is, it universally makes it personal to the particular person who is going to wear the merchandise,” he explained. The line, which includes shirts and snapback hats, officially launched with all NBA teams at the Association’s flagship store in New York on Wednesday.

McDaniels, who works closely with Madison Square Garden’s “Garden Of Dreams Foundation,” wore the Knicks shirt during Wednesday’s launch event. Despite his status as a New Yorker, DMC noted that seeing the logo repurposed for cities like Boston and Philadelphia wasn’t weird.

“Yunno why? Because it’s not our black, red and white logo with the city,” he said. “It’s the team’s colors.”

And like that wall-breaking collaboration with Aerosmith in the 80’s, McDaniels hopes that with the Fanatics partnership, the new incarnations of the Run-D.M.C. logo can unite fans of different teams.

If I had to use one-word to conjure up my feelings for Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards I would use: disjointed.

Before I tell you how little I enjoyed of the three-and-a-half hour broadcast (not including the mess that was the red carpet special), let me commend MTV execs for one thing: attempting to break the mold and trying something different. It was obvious from the minute that Vanguard Award-recipient Rihanna took the stage to open the show that this was not going to play out like your typical award show. Yes, it is refreshing to see the network take a chance with its biggest annual flagship program and create a new type of experience.

That said, they failed. Miserably.

We’ll start with the aforementioned Rihanna. Instead of receiving one long block of programming to showcase her prolific work and accept her “lifetime achievement” award, the singer was split in to four different performance segments, culminating with long-time collaborator Drake presenting her with the honor named for the late Michael Jackson. This alone exposes one of the VMAs major issues: a lack of star power so unavoidable that one of the night’s biggest performances was sprinkled throughout the course of the evening.

Think about music’s biggest names that were not in attendance: Justin Timberlake, Adele, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Calvin Harris, Coldplay, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.
Yes there was Beyonce, whose 15-minute medley of songs from “Lemonade” proved to be the night’s undisputed high point. Kanye West offered another bizarre, rambling diatribe before premiering a new music video from “The Life Of Pablo.” Britney Spears, introduced by Kim Kardashian West, appeared to return to old form with a performance of “Make Me” that featured rapper G-Eazy.

But you would have needed five Beyonce-like performances to make up for not only the missing names but mess that occurred when a performance or award presentation wasn’t happening. Comedian Jay Pharoah, who might have been better suited for a more-traditional hosting role or relegated to pre-taped vignettes (think Kevin Hart circa 2011 VMAs) was instead randomly inserted in to the program to showcase his various impressions. DJ Khaled proved that his energy and array of catchphrases play better on Snapchat opposed to live TV.
And comedians Key and Peele, who again should be commended for attempting something that breaks from the norm, failed in their quest to parody the “social media influencers” (coincidentally, like Khaled) who have become regulars on branded-content heavy programs like this one.

Perhaps just like those influencers, MTV needs to think of yet another new act. Ratings for this year plummeted 34 percent, from 9.8 to 6.5 million viewers.

Taylor Swift came out and said her phone conversation with Kanye West was secretly recorded. The video was posted to Kim Kardashian’s Snapchat page and depicts West and Swift discussing at least one line of his song “Famous,” in which he mentions Taylor. So can she sue Kim and Kanye for recording the call and posting the footage? We asked Attorney Reid Breitman what the laws in California state.

The latest chapter in the bizarre um… narrative… that is the Taylor Swift/Kanye West feud played out through a reality TV show and social networks on Sunday night.

And as we’ve learned through both a magazine interview and TMZ report: lawyers on at least one side of the debacle are now involved.

Back in February, Kanye West released the song “Famous” from his album, “The Life Of Pablo.” In it he raps, “For all my Southside n—-s that know me best I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that b—h famous.”

Through a representative, Swift refuted West’s claim that he had received approval from the “Shake It Off” singer for the song. She took things a step further during her GRAMMY Acceptance Speech for “Album Of The Year.”

“I want to say to all the young woman out there: There will be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments, your fame,” she said. “But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get to where you’re going, you’ll look around and you will know it was you and that will be the greatest feeling in the world.”

You could say Swift sang a much different tune in newly released footage, which Kim Kardashian West uploaded to Snapchat on Sunday night, following the conclusion of “Keeping Up The The Kardashians.” The video shows Kanye talking with Swift on speakerphone. West recites the lyric of them having sex.

“I’m like this close to overexposure,” Swift replies. In a way this line provides a peak behind the curtain of fame and perhaps offers the most telling point of their conversation: Swift’s initial concern centered on coverage, not vulgarity.
“I mean it’s like a compliment kind of,” she adds when West retorts that this mention would be “a cool thing to have.” “TLOP” was certainly a special album for West in that he decided to premiere it during his fashion show at Madison Square Garden, exclusively stream it on Tidal and then continuously change and alter the tracks to his liking even after the LP’s release.

“I mean, go with whatever line you think is better,” Swift tells him. “It’s obviously very tongue in cheek either way. And I really appreciate you telling me about it, that’s really nice!”

The video demonstrates that West not only went out of his way to seek Swift’s approval but even offered an alternative to the line. You could probably not say the same for the thinly-veiled and not-so-thinly-veiled songs Swift has written that were allegedly about others over the years.

At no point during the uploaded portion of the conversation did West run the b-word by Swift, which she touched on when responding to the video.

“You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that b—h’ in front of the entire world,” she stated in an Instagram post. “Of course I wanted to like the song…being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination.

“I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009.”

Kardashian West revealed to GQ that Swift’s lawyers already fired off what amounted to a cease-and-desist letter. TMZ reports that the call was recorded in California, which would determine what if any legal recourse Swift could take regarding the recording.

The soap opera that is Taylor Swift and Kanye West took yet another turn Monday night, and of course it centered on an award show.

This all began in 2009 at the MTV Video Music Awards and we thought that at last year’s GRAMMYs, bygones were bygones. During the commercial break, Swift and West along with his wife Kim Kardashian were chatting and posing for photos. Soon after, the “Shake It Off” singer and Renaissance man were having dinner together at famed New York City hotspot The Spotted Pig.
And of course, in a moment that could only be scripted by MTV, Swift introduced West at this past year’s VMAs where the rapper offered a rather rambling monologue that concluded with his announcement to run in the 2020 Presidential Election.

Swift took to Instagram after the show, where she posted a photo of flowers that West sent her captioned, “KanTay2020.”

It looks like there is no hope for that ticket’s future.

Where did things go awry? The only moment we can point to is the release of Kanye’s latest album, “The Life Of Pablo.” Streaming exclusively on the music service Tidal, it has made headlines with a track called “Famous” featuring Rihanna and Swizz Beatz.

“I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex,” wraps Yeezy. “Why? I made that b—- famous. I made that b—- famous.”

Swift does not concur.

At Monday night’s GRAMMYs, the Pennsylvania-born pop star took home three gramophones including the coveted “Album Of The Year” thanks to “1989.” Accepting the award with all of the LP’s producers standing behind her, Swift issued a not-so-subtle swipe back at West’s claim.

“As the first woman to win ‘Album of the Year’ at the GRAMMYs twice, I want to say to all the young woman out there: There will be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments, your fame,” she said.

“But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get to where you’re going, you’ll look around and you will know it was you,” Swift continued, “and that will be the greatest feeling in the world.”

Kanye returned to Twitter in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Instead of addressing Swift directly, he talked about his struggle in the fashion world, particularly when it comes to funding his endeavors. Later in the day, he issued a rather random rant on the cost of education in our country and how he feels it needs to be lowered.

“I’d rather teachers got paid more and books cost less,” he tweeted.

Sounds like West has a platform or two to run on. And he might just seek election after all; the tweet ended with the hashtag #2020.

A celebrity beef squashed while another was allegedly started. A host spewing many expletives but for most of the show, not wearing nearly as many articles of clothing. A crying pop star. A presidential campaign announced.

And in between, a few solid performances and a couple of awards.

The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards contained a bit of everything Sunday night. Live from the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles, the network’s flagship broadcast set Twitter ablaze and caused more of a dumpster fire when the ratings came out.

Perhaps a large chunk of the decline in viewership can be attributed to the host. No one knew what to expect from Miley Cyrus, and afterwards the correct response would have been “not much.” There is a certain ebb-and-flow to hosting live television and it is a skill that doesn’t come easy to many; thus the reason why a guy like Seacrest gets paid so much to do it.

The VMAs averaged about five million viewers on MTV according to Nielsen, down 39 percent from last year.

But offer credit where it is deserved: Sunday night’s VMAs set a U.S. Twitter record for a non-sports TV broadcast with 2.2 million people generating over 21 million tweets. That can probably also be attributed to Cyrus, who surprised everyone by closing out the show and releasing an album online for free at its conclusion.

Oh, and the awards. Taylor Swift took home four, including Video Of The Year for the cameo-filled “Bad Blood” featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar. Of course Swift showed up with her “squad” in tow, including model Karlie Kloss and fellow singer Selena Gomez.

An outdoor stage set-up downtown provided some of the best musical moments of the night – Macklemore offered up a theatrical rendition of his new single “Downtown,” Demi Lovato received some assistance from surprise guest Iggy Azalea on “Cool For The Summer,” and Pharrell Williams struck a vastly different tone than most of the show with his performance of “Freedom.”

Inside, Justin Bieber returned to the VMA stage. The 21 year-old performed a medley of “Where Are U Now” and his latest single, “What Do You Mean?” Following the performance, Bieber was seen visibly weeping on stage. Reaction seemed to be generally positive, especially considering what has happened in the five years since he last performed at the VMAs.
Kanye West was there and relatively speaking was well behaved. MTV bestowed upon West the Vanguard Award for lifetime achievement, and rightfully so. But of course, it did not come without spectacle: Once-foe-now-friend Swift presented him to the stage and West followed with a rambling speech in which he both trashed award shows and admitted he had smoked weed beforehand.

He finished the rant by announcing that in 2020 he would seek the Oval Office. Then, he dropped the mic. Not surprising and certainly fitting.